So I'm redoing my Setting as my computer crashed, and I had to get a new one. Plus it gives me a chance to refine some things.

I began thinking about it, and I'm wondering if druids as they're presented in the books makes sense. These are small sentient mammals after all, it wouldn't work thematically for a badger to be able to shift into a cat.

I get the idea of a nature bound spellcaster, mind you. It would be perfect for my "Civilizations recovering from a disaster" theme I've got going, but the Druid relies heavilly on it's shapeshifting. I'm wondering ifthere's a way to angle the Cleric as more druidic?

* You meet the New Age Retro Hippie* The New Age Retro Hippie lost his temper!* The New Age Retro Hippie's offense went up by 1!* Ness attacks!SMAAAASH!!* 87 HP of damage to the New Age Retro Hippie!* The New Age Retro Hippie turned back to normal!YOU WON!* Ness gained 160 xp.

I don't see why they couldn't shapeshift into other animals. I would argue that it makes just as much sense as humanoids doing it, as various animals would seek to take on traits of their predators, or of creatures that have distinctly different methods of travel (e.g. flight), or sizes (e.g. the rabbit becoming a tiny spider) than they do.

I chose to just use some different archetypes to diversify the different kinds of Druids that exist, and match more closely with various cultural expressions of natural reverence.

Another topic I wanted to breach real quick, is one of long tread on ground.

Look we've all heard this argument before, and we've all had this discussion. The fighter is broken: blah blah blah. The wizard is vastly superiour: Blah blah blah. FIGHTER FIXES: BLAH BLAH BLAH. I'm not here to ask for Fighter fixes. I'm just asking for alternatives. What are good classes to replace the fighter with, and/or is there a compilation of 3.x/PF martial classes that could fill in different roles? I like the idea that each species has a different warrior style to reflect their cultural values.

I like Path of War, and I recommend the Path of War classes as good replacements for underpowered martial classes. Some of the Path of War material (in particular, stuff from PoW:E) can get a bit ridiculous, so picking and choosing is probably a good idea, but overall I think it's good stuff.

From Paizo material, the Brawler is pretty much a straight upgrade over the Fighter. There are also some Fighter archetypes (Lore Warden and Martial Master come to mind) that give the Fighter a different flavor and a bit of a buff at the same time.